A Basis for Understanding Volunteer Coach Retention in Youth Sports

Youth sport organizations depend on volunteers to coach the teams in the organization. The purpose of this quantitative study was to develop a further understanding of volunteer coach retention in youth sport. The data was collected through a quantitative questionnaire which used close-ended and Likert-scale questions. The questionnaire collected data on the modified Model of Volunteer Retention in Youth Sports, reasons to withdraw from coaching and human resource management. There were 126 surveys collected from members of the three largest youth sport associations in the town of Aylmer, Ontario. The study found that Person-Task fit was the best predictor of volunteer coach retention as it significantly correlated to one’s intention to continue coaching (p< 0.01). Furthermore, additional reasons were found to explain withdrawal from coaching - if one’s child stops playing the sport or if coaching is too time consuming. The retention of volunteer coaches in youth sport organizations requires a multi-dimensional approach in understanding how to best retain volunteer coaches.

“You Know What I Mean?”- Language and Cultural Retention in Luso-Canadian Mothers in the Greater Toronto Area

The Portuguese community is one of the largest diasporic groups in the Greater Toronto Area and the choice of retention and transmission of language and culture to Luso-Canadians is crucial to the development and sustainability of the community. The overall objective of this study is to learn about the factors that influence Luso-Canadian mothers’ inclination to teach Portuguese language and cultural retention to their children. To explore this topic I employed a qualitative research design that included in-depth interviews conducted in 2012 with six Luso-Canadian mothers. Three central arguments emerged from the findings. First, Luso-Canadian mothers interviewed posses a pronounced desire for their children to succeed academically, and to provide opportunities that their children that they did not have. Second, five of the mothers attempt to achieve this mothering objective partly by disconnecting from their Portuguese roots, and by disassociating their children from the Portuguese language and culture. Third, the disconnection they experience and enact is influenced by the divisions evident in the Portuguese community in the GTA that divides regions and hierarchically ranks dialects, and groups. I conclude that the children in these households inevitably bear the prospects of maintaining a vibrant Portuguese community in the GTA and I propose that actions by the community in ranking dialects influence mothers’ decisions about transmitting language and culture to their children.

Niagara Employee Assistance Program Council fonds, 1980-2008, n.d.

The Niagara Employee Assistance Program Council was started in Welland in 1979. It expanded to a regional council in 1981. The membership consisted of companies, interested individuals, service providers and non-profit charitable organizations. The objective of this organization was to improve communication links and provide a networking framework for council members; to promote awareness of the Niagara Employment Assistance and Employee Assistance Programs within the community; to share feelings, knowledge and expertise of individuals and institutions in developing and maintaining effective Employee Assistance Programs; to bring attention to local issues and to improve on the effectiveness of Employee Assistance Programs in the Niagara region. This program assisted employees with personal problems that could affect job performance. The Niagara Employee Assistance Council was dissolved as of March 31, 2008.